System and method for detection and alert of energy resource outages

ABSTRACT

A system for alert of energy resource outages includes: a resource monitor, disposed within radio range of resource meters that each transmit corresponding radio signals indicative of corresponding meter identifiers and current readings, configured to: determine whether the corresponding radio signals are fixed frequency or frequency hopping by scanning frequency channels for a time period and counting hits of desired meter identifiers; decode each of the one or more of the corresponding radio signals of the resource meters according to determined protocol to obtain one or more of the corresponding meter identifiers and current readings; and transmit the one or more of the corresponding meter identifiers and current readings; and a server, configured to: receive the one or more of the corresponding meter identifiers and current readings; employ the corresponding meter identifiers and current readings to detect an outage; and transmit an alert that corresponds to the outage.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of the following U.S. patentapplication, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

SERIAL FILING NUMBER DATE TITLE 16/812,791 Mar. 9, 2020 METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR DETECTION AND (CL.0111) ALERT OF ENERGY RESOURCE OUTAGES

This application is related to the following co-pending U.S. patentapplications, each of which has a common assignee and common inventors,the entireties of which are herein incorporated by reference.

SERIAL FILING NUMBER DATE TITLE 16/812,666 Mar. 9, 2020 METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR INSTANTANEOUS (CL.0108) ENERGY RESOURCE USE MONITORING ANDCUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT 17/878,202 Aug. 1, 2022 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENERGYRESOURCE (CL.0108-C1) MONITORING AND CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT 16/812,721 Mar.9, 2020 INSTANTANEOUS ENERGY RESOURCE USE (CL.0109) MONITORING ANDCUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT SERVER 17/878,215 Aug. 1, 2022 SERVER AND METHOD FORENERGY RESOURCE (CL.0109-C1) MONITORING AND CUSTOMER ENGAGEMEN16/812,749 Mar. 9, 2020 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TRANSLATING (CL.0110)AUTOMATIC METER READING SIGNALS TO INSTANTANEOUS METER READINGS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This invention relates in general to the field of energy resourcemanagement, and more specifically to methods and apparatus forinstantaneous energy resource use monitoring and customer engagement.

Description of the Related Art

Since late in the 1800's, electrical power, natural gas, and waterproviders have been distributing these resources to consumers. And notlong after larger distribution grids were deployed by these utilities,the problem of billing based upon consumption arose. Consequently,utilities began to install consumption meters for these resources attheir respective points of consumption.

Virtually everyone in this country and many countries abroad understandthe role of the “meter reader,” for early utility meters provided only avisual indication of how much of a certain resource that was consumedover a billing period. Thus, in order for a resource provider todetermine the amount of that resource which had been consumed over abilling period, it was necessary to dispatch personnel each time a meterreading was required. This typically occurred on a monthly basis.

This manner of obtaining usage data, however, was labor intensive andconsequently very costly. In addition, because the act of reading ameter involved interpretation of the meaning of one or more visualindicators (typically analog dials), these readings were subject toinaccuracies due to errors made by the meter readers.

In the past 30 years, developers began to address the problems of laborcost and inaccurate readings due to the human element by providingautomatic meter reading (AMR) meters, the most prevalent type of whichbroadcast their current values in a known and encoded low power radiofrequency transmission capable of being captured by a corresponding AMRreceiver in a moving vehicle. Hence, AMR technologies substantiallyalleviated the limitations of former meters related to accurate readingsand markedly addressed the cost of labor required to read meters.

But in order to deploy AMR technologies, the utilities had to completelyreplace their existing inventory of meters, literally hundreds ofmillions, at substantial costs which were conveyed either directly orindirectly to consumers.

In the past 20 years, developers have responded to pulls in the art for“smart meters,” that is, meters that allow for two-way communicationbetween a resource provider and a point of consumption. Two-waycommunications between a provider and a meter, also known as automatedmetering infrastructure (AMI) yields several benefits to the provider.At a basic level, the provider is no longer required to send outpersonnel to read meters or to control consumption as an access point.In addition, the provider can turn on and turn off consumption of theresource at the consumption point without sending out service personnel.And what is more attractive from a provider standpoint is that AMItechniques can be employed to perform more complex resource controloperations such as demand response. AMI meters typically provide theirreadings every 15 minutes over a backhaul network that is batterybacked, and these readings may be available to consumers the followingday.

The present inventors have observed, however, that to provide for AMI,under present day conditions, requires that the utilities—yet one moretime—replace their entire inventory of AMR meters with more capable, andsignificantly more expensive, AMI meters. In addition, present dayapproaches that are directed toward providing the two-way communicationsbetween the utilities and their fleet of AMI meters all require thedeployment and monthly maintenance fees associated with entirely newcommunications infrastructures (e.g., proprietary field area networks,satellite) or they are bandwidth limited (e.g., cellular).

Because of the costs associated with upgrading infrastructure whencompared to the benefits gained in consumption reduction, attempts toreplace older meters has stalled. Moreover, the mass adoption ofelectric vehicles and residential photovoltaic systems makes it evenmore difficult to establish rate cases and payback of such capitalexpenditure.

Presently, about half of combined electric, gas, and water utilities inthis country can access meter data more frequently than once a month.About 6 percent of deployed meters do not have communicationcapabilities, 47 percent are AMI meters, and the remaining 47 percentare AMR meters. Consequently, utilities can't engage consumers withreal-time energy data and it's expensive to serve unexpected peaks indemand. In addition, the present inventors have noted that approximately90 percent of all power outages occur due to faults in the distributiongrid itself, and that resolving an outage is a critical component ofcustomer satisfaction; however, responding to those outages is difficultbecause lack of real-time data and information at the edges of the grid.

Accordingly, what is needed is a method and apparatus for translatingAMI meter and AMR meter readings into real-time energy consumptionstreams that are available for grid monitoring and customer engagement,without requiring modifications to existing infrastructure or physicalcoupling of monitoring devices to distribution points.

What is also needed is a system that monitors consumption of an energyresource within a grid in real time, and that more accurately targetsrepair resources over that which has heretofore been provided.

What is additionally needed is a system for monitoring distribution ofan energy resource that does not rely on self-reporting of failure, andthat also is capable of distinguishing between grid failure andcommunications network failure.

Moreover, what is needed is a home energy monitoring system that is easyto install, that utilizes commercially available broadband networks,that analyzes usage to account for variations in usage due to weather,that can distinguish between normal and abnormal usage, that can beemployed by resource providers in real time to initiate demandreduction, and that can be employed by resource consumers to identifyunusual consumption patterns.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, among other applications, is directed to solvingthe above-noted problems and addresses other problems, disadvantages,and limitations of the prior art by providing a superior technique fortranslating infrequent readings from both Automatic Meter Reading (AMR)meters and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meters into areal-time stream of revenue-grade readings for a variety of energyresource types and for additionally analyzing streams of readings todetermine and alert resource users and resource providers to abnormaluse patterns and outages. One aspect of the present inventioncontemplates a system for detection and alert of energy resourceoutages, the system including: a resource monitor, disposed within radiorange of resource meters that each transmit corresponding radio signalsindicative of corresponding meter identifiers and current readings,configured to: determine whether the corresponding radio signals are ofa fixed frequency transmission protocol or a frequency hoppingtransmission protocol by scanning each of a plurality of frequencychannels for a time period and counting hits of desired meteridentifiers within the each of the plurality of frequency channels;decode each of the one or more of the corresponding radio signals of theresource meters according to determined fixed frequency transmissionprotocol or determined frequency hopping transmission protocol to obtainone or more of the corresponding meter identifiers and current readings;and transmit the one or more of the corresponding meter identifiers andcurrent readings over an Internet; and a server, coupled to theinternet, configured to: receive the one or more of the correspondingmeter identifiers and current readings; employ the corresponding meteridentifiers and current readings to detect an outage within a geographicarea; and transmit an alert that corresponds to the outage.

Another aspect of the present invention comprehends a system fordetection and alert of energy resource outages, the system including: aresource monitor, disposed within radio range of resource meters thateach transmit corresponding radio signals indicative of correspondingmeter identifiers and current readings, configured to: determine whetherthe corresponding radio signals are of a fixed frequency transmissionprotocol or a frequency hopping transmission protocol by scanning eachof a plurality of frequency channels for a time period and counting hitsof desired meter identifiers within the each of the plurality offrequency channels; decode each of the one or more of the correspondingradio signals of the resource meters according to determined fixedfrequency transmission protocol or determined frequency hoppingtransmission protocol to obtain one or more of the corresponding meteridentifiers and current readings; and transmit the one or more of thecorresponding meter identifiers and current readings over an Internet; aserver, coupled to the internet, configured to: receive the one or moreof the corresponding meter identifiers and current readings; employ thecorresponding meter identifiers and current readings to detect an outagewithin a geographic area; and transmit an alert that corresponds to theoutage; and a provider client device executing a web browser thereon,that receives and displays the alert.

A further aspect of the present invention envisages a method fordetection and alert of energy resource outages, the method including:via a resource monitor, disposed within radio range of resource metersthat each transmit corresponding radio signals indicative ofcorresponding meter identifiers and current readings: determiningwhether the corresponding radio signals are of a fixed frequencytransmission protocol or a frequency hopping transmission protocol byscanning each of a plurality of frequency channels for a time period andcounting hits of desired meter identifiers within the each of theplurality of frequency channels; decoding each of the one or more of thecorresponding radio signals of the resource meters according todetermined fixed frequency transmission protocol or determined frequencyhopping transmission protocol to obtain one or more of the correspondingmeter identifiers and current readings; and transmit the one or more ofthe corresponding meter identifiers and current readings of the resourcemeters over an Internet; and via a server, coupled to the internet:receiving the one or more of the corresponding meter identifiers andcurrent readings of the resource meters from the one or more resourcemonitors; employing the corresponding meter identifiers and currentreadings to detect an outage within a geographic area; and transmittingan alert corresponds to the outage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an energy resource monitoring andengagement system according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting a resource monitor according to thepresent invention such as may be employed in the system of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram featuring a meter receiver according to thepresent invention such as may be employed in the resource monitor ofFIG. 2 ;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing a method according to the presentinvention for commissioning and pairing of a resource monitor to ameter;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an alternative method according tothe present invention for commissioning and pairing of a resourcemonitor to a meter;

FIG. 6 is a diagram detailing states of the state controller of FIG. 3 ;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram detailing a user client device according tothe present invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram detailing a resource server according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram detailing a method according to the presentinvention for disaggregation of usage rate spikes and customerengagement;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a method according to the presentinvention for detection and notification of resource outages;

FIG. 11 is a diagram depicting an exemplary network of resourcemonitors, their coverage, and determination of a physical area of aresource outage;

FIG. 12 is a diagram featuring an exemplary usage display according tothe present invention such as might be presented by the resource serverof FIG. 1 to the utility web browser 104;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an exemplary notification display accordingto the present invention such as might be presented by the resourceserver of FIG. 1 to the utility web browser 104;

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary demand management resultsdisplay according to the present invention such as might be presented bythe resource server of FIG. 1 to the utility web browser 104; and

FIG. 15 is a diagram detailing an exemplary outage detection alertdisplay according to the present invention such as might be presented bythe resource server of FIG. 1 to the utility web browser 104.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary and illustrative embodiments of the invention are describedbelow. It should be understood at the outset that, although exemplaryembodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, theprinciples of the present disclosure may be implemented using any numberof techniques, whether currently known or not. In the interest ofclarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described inthis specification, for those skilled in the art will appreciate that inthe development of any such actual embodiment, numerousimplementation-specific decisions are made to achieve specific goals,such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints,which vary from one implementation to another. Furthermore, it will beappreciated that such a development effort might be complex andtime-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking forthose of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of thisdisclosure. Various modifications to the preferred embodiment will beapparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments. Therefore, the presentinvention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodimentsshown and described herein but is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and novel features herein disclosed.

The present invention will now be described with reference to theattached figures. Various structures, systems, and devices areschematically depicted in the drawings for purposes of explanation onlyand so as to not obscure the present invention with details that arewell known to those skilled in the art. Nevertheless, the attacheddrawings are included to describe and explain illustrative examples ofthe present invention. Unless otherwise specifically noted, articlesdepicted in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

The words and phrases used herein should be understood and interpretedto have a meaning consistent with the understanding of those words andphrases by those skilled in the relevant art. No special definition of aterm or phrase (i.e., a definition that is different from the ordinaryand customary meaning as understood by those skilled in the art) isintended to be implied by consistent usage of the term or phrase herein.To the extent that a term or phrase is intended to have a specialmeaning (i.e., a meaning other than that understood by skilled artisans)such a special definition will be expressly set forth in thespecification in a definitional manner that directly and unequivocallyprovides the special definition for the term or phrase. As used in thisdisclosure, “each” refers to each member of a set, each member of asubset, each member of a group, each member of a portion, each member ofa part, etc.

Applicants note that unless the words “means for” or “step for” areexplicitly used in a particular claim, it is not intended that any ofthe appended claims or claim elements are recited in such a manner as toinvoke 35 U.S.C. § 112(f).

Definitions

Central Processing Unit (CPU): The electronic circuits (i.e.,“hardware”) that execute the instructions of a computer program (alsoknown as a “computer application,” “application,” “application program,”“app,” “computer code,” “code process,” “code segment,” or “program”) byperforming operations on data that may include arithmetic operations,logical operations, and input/output operations. A CPU may also bereferred to as a processor.

Thin client: A thin client is an application program executing on acomputing device (e.g., desktop computer, laptop computer, tabletcomputer, smartphone, etc.) that runs from resources stored on a centralserver instead of a localized hard drive. Thin clients work byconnecting remotely to a server-based computing environment where mostapplications, sensitive data, and memory, are stored.

In view of the above background discussion on the various types ofenergy resource meters, how readings of energy use are taken therefrom,and the disadvantages and limitations of these meters in view ofpresent-day energy resource demand, a discussion of the presentinvention will be presented with reference to FIGS. 1-15 . The presentinvention overcomes the above noted limitations of present-day meterreading systems and techniques by providing a method and system fortranslating infrequent readings from both Automatic Meter Reading (AMR)meters and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meters into areal-time stream of revenue-grade readings for a variety of energyresource types including, but not limited to, electricity, gas, andwater. In addition, the present invention is configured to providenear-real-time alerts to resource providers (e.g., utilities) andengagement notifications to resource users. All of these functions andmore are enabled wirelessly without requiring physical access orconnection to the meters themselves or to energy resource distributionwithin user facilities. The present invention provides for a superiorinventive step in the art and significant improvements to this field oftechnology.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a block diagram is presented illustrating anenergy resource monitoring and engagement system 100 according to thepresent invention. The system 100 may include a resource server 130 thatis coupled to one or more devices energy provider client devices 101 andresource user client devices 102 through the internet cloud 110. In oneembodiment, the provider client devices 101 may comprise one or moredesktop/laptop computers 101 that execute a conventional web browser 104such as, but not limited to, MICROSOFT EDGE, APPLE SAFARI, GOOGLECHROME, and FIREFOX for communication and interaction with the resourceserver 130 through the Internet cloud 110. In one embodiment, theresource user client devices 102 may comprise one or more one or moresmart tablet computers 102 that execute tablet client applications 105for communication and interaction with the resource server 130 throughthe Internet cloud 110. The user client devices 102 may further includeone or more smartphone devices 102 that execute smartphone clientapplications 105 for communication and interaction with the resourceserver 130 through the Internet cloud 110. Other embodiments of theclient devices 101-102 are contemplated. Preferably, the clientapplications 105 comprise thin client applications that enable accessvia remote connections to the resource server 130.

The system 100 also may include a plurality of resource monitors 103that are deployed within radio range of a corresponding one or moremeters 107 of the types alluded to above. In one embodiment, the system100 contemplates deployment of approximately five million resourcemonitors 103 in both residential and commercial facilities, where themonitors 103 are provided to provide real-time streaming of use of acorresponding one or more energy resources. For example, a givenresource monitor 103 may be configured to stream electrical meterreadings only or it may be configured to stream a combination ofelectrical, gas, and water readings from a corresponding number ofresource meters 107. The present inventors note that a single resourcemonitor 103, as a function of received signal strength and timeallocated to particular frequencies and modulation types, may beconfigured to received meter readings from a plurality of meters 107that may or may not correspond to the facility in which the resourcemonitor 103 is disposed. Stated differently, a single resource monitor103 may receive and stream meter readings from meters 107 within itscorresponding facility and readings from meters 107 disposed withinadjacent facilities that are within range, thus providing for increasedquality of service. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, radiosignals from a meter 107 in an adjacent facility may be higher in signalstrength that signals from a meter 107 that is disposed within the samefacility as the resource monitor 103.

In one embodiment, the resource monitor 103 may comprise a small,stand-alone device that is plugged into an electrical outlet within afacility, where the electrical outlet is within radio range of one ormore meters 107. Another embodiment contemplates resource monitoringelements to perform the functions of a resource monitor 103, but whichare disposed within another type of device that is within radio range ofone or more meters. Other types of devices within which the resourcemonitoring elements are disposed may comprise modems (both cable andDSL), set top boxes, smart home devices and digital assistants (e.g.,AMAZON ECHO, GOOGLE ASSISTANT, SAMSUNG BIXBY, etc.), intelligent hubs(e.g., SONOS, GOOGLE NEST, LG SMART TV), and any other device that canprovide electrical power to the resource monitoring elements and thatprovide for access so the internet cloud 110 via a wired or wirelessgateway (not shown). The present invention further contemplates thesharing of common hardware and software (e.g., power supplies,BLUETOOTH, and WIFI elements) within these other types of devices.

The resource monitor 103 may be coupled to one or more of the userclient devices 102 via a Bluetooth link 106, where the Bluetooth link106 is employed to transfer a user's WIFI access credentials (e.g., SSIDand password) in order to commissioning the resource monitor 103 ontothe user's WIFI network. Following commissioning, Bluetooth link 106 maybe employed as backup means of communication.

An AMI or AMR meter 107 may comprise an analog or digital display 108that displays a value of resource consumption (e.g., 32451 kWh, 4305gallons, etc.) by a corresponding facility. The meter 107 may further beconfigured with a radio transmitter 109 that periodically transmits aunique meter identifier (ID) along with a current value of resourceconsumption. The radio transmissions may be at a fixed radio frequencyor they may frequency hop between a plurality of radio frequenciesaccording to a unique frequency hopping algorithm. As one skilled in theart will appreciate, there are a number of meter transmission protocolscurrently employed, and the resource monitor 103 according to thepresent invention is configured to employ an inexpensive, single narrowband receiver, described in more detail below, to discover transmissionprotocols that correspond to meters 107 within range. As one skilled inthe art will appreciate, AMI/AMR meters 107 that are currently deployedutilize transmission protocols based upon manufacturer's specifications.These protocols include fixed frequency protocols and frequency hoppingprotocols such as, but not limited to, ZigBee SEP 1.0, ZigBee 1.1b,ZigBee 1.2, AMR ERT SCM tone wake, AMR ERT SCM low power, AMR ERT SCMhigh power, AMR ERT SCMP, and AMR ERT IDM, Cellnet, Kamstrup WirelessM-Bus, Sensus FlexNet FSK7, and Neptune R900. As will be discussed inmore detail below, the resource monitor 103 according to the presentinvention is configured to employ a the narrow band receiver to discoverradio transmissions and protocols associated with meters 107 withinrange and to further employ those protocols to listen for broadcasts bythese meters 107, whereby the resource monitor extracts meter IDs andreadings in real-time. The meter IDs and readings are then transmittedby the resource monitor 103 to the resource server 130 over the internetcloud for storage, analysis, resource provider alerts, and resource userengagement. In a broader sense, the resource monitor 103 according tothe present invention is configured to employ a narrow band receiver toscan for radio signals within range that may be associated with meters107 and to learn hopping sequences for certain frequency hoppingprotocols.

The frequencies that are scanned may be limited to those frequenciesassociated with a geographic area within which the meters 107 aredeployed, where the frequencies are provided by the resource server. Thescanning may further comprise detecting peaks in received signalstrength indicator (RSSI) to trigger further listening for messagepreambles. The scanning may adjust frequency channels from 902 to 926MHz, channels within the ISM bank, and 868 MHz. The resource monitor 103may further adjust modulation (e.g., OOK, FSK, PSK), baud rate (e.g.,2400, 9600, 19200, and 57600), CRC algorithm (CRC-8, CRC-CITT, CRC-32etc.), and may additionally adjust receiver bandwidth to dynamicallyfind balance between reliable reception and number of unique channelsrequired for hopping, and may further toggle forward error correction(FEC) and Manchester encoding on and off with an objective of matching areceived meter ID with a meter 103 corresponding or adjacent to a user'sfacility. For frequency hopping protocols, the resource monitor 103 mayadditionally employ a narrowing algorithm, described in more detailbelow that estimates frequencies and intervals, and that learns basedupon number of signal hits, and that improves over time.

The resource server 130 may include a monitor processor 141 that iscoupled to a resource database 151. The monitor processor 141 comprisesa user interface (UX) component 142 and a search engine component 143.The resource server may further comprise a commissioning processor 152,a meter reading processor 153, a disaggregation processor 154, an outagedetection processor 155, and an engagement processor 156. The resourceserver 130 may further be coupled to a human intelligence task service161 such as, but not limited to, AMAZON Mechanical Turk (MTurk).

In operation, users may download and install the user client application105 from the resource server 130 to their client devices 102 via theinternet cloud 110. The user client application 105 may execute toprompt a corresponding user to provide power to a corresponding resourcemonitor 103, and to establish a connection to the resource monitor 103via the Bluetooth link 106. The user client application 105, inconjunction with the user interface element 142 may additionally promptthe user to enter credentials for their WIFI network, which aretransmitted to the resource monitor 103 that then provides thesecredentials to the user's WIFI access point (not shown), thuscommissioning the resource monitor 103 onto the WIFI network.

The user client application 105, as directed by the user interfaceelement 142, may then prompt the user to take digital photographs ofmeters 107 (e.g., electrical, gas, water, solar, etc.) within theirfacility that may include current resource consumption values that areon corresponding displays 108 and that may further include visuallyrecognizable meter IDs. In the absence of digital photographs of meters107, the user may be prompted to take digital photographs of theirmonthly bills from the resource providers. The user client application105 may subsequently transmit these digital photographs to the resourceserver 130. Accordingly, the commissioning processor 152 may cause oneor more user records to be created within the resource database 151having fields therein that include, but are not limited to, userregistration information, physical service address, device ID (for pushnotifications), phone number (for voice calls and SMS messaging) type ofresource monitored, meter ID, meter type, meter broadcast protocol, andresource provider name. The commissioning processor 152 may additionallycause meter records to be created within the resource database 151having fields that include, but are not limited to, meter ID, resourcemonitors within radio range, time stamps, and corresponding meterreadings.

The commissioning processor 152 may employ computer vision learningalgorithms to detect meter IDs and current readings from the digitalphotographs. The commissioning processor 152 may further employ computervision to determine the type of meter 107 being used and may update userrecords accordingly. For recognized and well known meters 107, thecommissioning processor 153 may additionally provide instructions to theresource monitor 103 that include transmission frequencies and hoppingalgorithms to reduce the time required to scan and acquire the meter107.

In the absence of a meter ID, the commissioning processor 152 may directthe resource monitor 103 to listen for meters 107 that have meterreadings that are approximately that which was learned from thephotograph of the meter's display 108. For those meters 107 that are notrecognized via computer vision learning, the commissioning processor 152may cause the digital photographs to be transmitted as work orders tothe human intelligence task service 161 to identify meter type.

For situations where only a monthly bill is provided, the commissioningprocessor 152 may employ computer vision to determine current andprevious consumption readings and may then employ those readings togenerate an estimated time-projected consumption reading for the meter107 and may direct the resource monitor 107 to search for a meter 107having a current reading that is approximately equal to the estimatedconsumption reading.

Once the resource monitor 103 has determined one or more specific meters107 that match the information provided via the digital photographs, thecommissioning processor 152 may then direct the resource monitor 103 totake consumption readings for the meter 107 for a prescribed time periodto generate a resource consumption baseline. The disaggregationprocessor 154 may analyze the resource consumption baseline to determinerecognizable spikes in usage that correspond to recognized appliances(e.g., washer, air conditioner, dryer, television, furnace, lighting,occupancy, etc.), and the commissioning processor 153 may then directthe monitor processor 141 to send push notifications to the clientdevice 102 asking confirmatory questions such as, but not limited to:

-   -   “Did you just turn on your television?”    -   “Did you do laundry yesterday at 7 PM?”    -   “Did you get home today around 5:48 PM?”        If the user's answers match the recognized spikes, then the        commissioning processor 152 pairs the meter 107 with the        resource monitor.

Alternatively, the commissioning processor 153 may direct the monitorprocessor 141 to send push notifications to the client device 102 askingthe user to perform confirmatory actions such as, but not limited to:

-   -   “Turn on your oven to 500 degrees.”    -   “Turn on your toaster.”    -   “Turn on your washer.”

The commissioning processor 152 may then direct the disaggregationprocessor 154 may analyze the resource consumption baseline along withcurrent readings to determine recognizable spikes in usage thatcorrespond to the directed action(s). If a match is not found, then theuser may be directed to perform additional actions. If a match is found,then the commissioning processor 152 pairs the meter 107 with theresource monitor 103.

Once a meter 107 is paired with one or more resource monitors 103, thenthe meter reading processor 153 directs the resource monitors toperiodically transmit the meter's current readings, which are stored inthe resource database 151. The search element 143 may be employed todetermine records in the database 151 that correspond to a specificmeter ID. In one embodiment, the period of transmission is 30 seconds.Another embodiment contemplates 1-minute periods.

As will be described in more detail below, the disaggregation processor154 may perform operations on readings corresponding to a meter 107 tonormalize usage for weather conditions, for day of the week, and fortime of day in order to determine both usual and unusual resourceconsumption patterns. These normalized readings are additionally storedin the resource database 151 and are used by the engagement processor tosend push notifications (or SMS messages) to users that provide alertsfor unusual usage and that encourage conservation and demand reduction.In one embodiment, the normalized readings are employed by theengagement processor 156 to filter out unnecessary notifications. In oneembodiment, 60-minute time windows are employed by the disaggregationprocessor 154 to analyze resource consumption. The disaggregationprocessor 154 then employs an averaged shifted histogram method withdata points in bins representing subranges to analyze consumption duringeach of the windows. The disaggregation processor 154 additionallyidentifies usage signatures of large appliances and common events (e.g.,laundry day) to distinguish normal usage patterns from unusual usagepatterns. For example, a user with spikes in water usage during a verydry month of July would not receive a conservation notification.Similarly, a user that runs several loads of laundry on Saturdays wouldbe precluded from notifications on that day. These notifications andcorresponding use threshold time profiles are programmed by utilityproviders through their corresponding browsers 104 and are stored withinthe resource database 151 for access by the engagement processor 156 atintervals which are also prescribed by the utility providers throughtheir browsers 104. In one embodiment, the engagement processor mayemploy 5-minute usage windows for purposes of sending alerts to users.

The disaggregation processor 154 may further assign users to categoriesto provide for additional filtering of alerts. In one embodiment, usersare categorized into time windows within which they consume most of aresource such as, but not limited to, morning users, evening users, allday users, day users, night users, weekend users, and non-weekend users.The disaggregation processor 154 additionally analyzes usage patterns totrack long term trends that represent increased annual cost or savingssuch as having installed, replaced or removed appliances like atticfans, pool pumps, televisions, refrigerators, drop freezers, etc.Advantageously, the alerts pushed to the users via the engagementprocessor 156 enable the users to make informed decisions about theproducts in their homes and their energy cost and value tradeoffs. Thedisaggregation processor 154 may additionally track usage patterns todetect occupancy (home and away) and the engagement processor 156 maythen alert users to indicated occupancy states of their correspondingfacilities.

Advantageously, the alerts provided by the engagement processor 156based upon disaggregated usage enable facility owners to take immediateaction during urgent energy events such as when appliances (e.g., fans,heaters, irons, ovens, warmers, etc.) are left on when not in use orwhen unusual occupancies are detected.

The outage detection processor 155 operates to analyze current usage forall meters 107 within regions specified by utility providers to whichthe meters 107 correspond. One embodiment contemplates the generation ofvisual representations of usage by the monitor processor, which are thentransmitted to the provider's web browser. These visual usage displaysmay include, but are not limited to, current usage, usage over a timeperiod, usage tied to time-of-day charges, demand reduction results,industrial usage, etc. For example, Austin Energy, an electricalresource provider run by the City of Austin, Tex., may employ theirbrowser 104 to specify various grid regions for monitoring. As will bedescribed in further detail below, the outage detection processor 155may further monitor transmission from meters 107 to resource monitors103 within range to determine if one or more meters 107 are online oroffline. If the status of a given meter 107 is in question, then itson-premise resource monitor 103 may be questionable as well, but aresource monitor 103 in an adjacent facility may be operating normallyand may be receiving transmissions from the given meter 107.Accordingly, the outage detection processor 155 does not determineoutages based upon lack of power to a resource monitor 103, but ratherlack of transmissions from a meter 107 to those resource monitors 103 towhich it is paired, be those monitors 103 disposed on site or inadjacent buildings within range. If an outage is determined, the outagedetection processor 155 may further determine a physical area of theoutage based upon physical coordinates (e.g., addresses) of thenon-transmitting meters and may further direct the monitor processor 141to transmit visual representations and values of the outage to theresource provider's browser 104. In one embodiment, the outage detectionprocessor may employ available public data to augment the visualrepresentations provided such as, but not limited to, outage maps forinternet service.

Advantageously, the system 100 according to the present inventionprovides for a significant improvement in this field of art thatincludes translation of AMI/AMR meter readings to real-time consumptionstreams, monitoring of resource consumption use and provision ofreal-time consumption to utilities that include outage alerts, and userengagement based upon disaggregation and normalization of correspondinguse profiles.

The resource server 130 according to the present invention may compriseone or more application programs executing thereon to perform theoperations and functions described above, and which will be disclosed infurther detail with reference to FIG. 8 .

Now turning to FIG. 2 , a block diagram is presented depicting aresource monitor 200 according to the present invention such as may beemployed in the system of FIG. 1 . The monitor 200 includes acommissioning processor 201 and a meter reading processor 202, both ofwhich are coupled to a communications processor 203. The communicationsprocessor 203 is coupled to a Bluetooth transceiver 204, a WIFItransceiver 205 and a meter receiver 206. The resource monitor 200 maybe powered by an AC mains power source (not shown). Another embodimentcontemplates power provided by a 3.3-volt power source (not shown) thatmay be shared with other circuits when the resource monitor 200 isdisposed in another device (e.g., modem, digital assistant, etc.).

In operation, the Bluetooth transceiver 204 transmits and receivesmessages according to the Bluetooth protocol over a Bluetooth wirelesslink 207. The WIFI transceiver 205 transmits and receives messagesaccording to the IEEE 802.11 wireless protocol over a WIFI wireless link208. The meter receiver 206 receives signals from meters within rangeover a radio link 209. According to deployment configuration, the meterreceiver 206 comprises a tunable narrow band receiver that is configuredto receive signals according to a combination of the following fixedfrequency and frequency hopping protocols: Zig Bee SEP 1.0, Zig Bee1.1b, Zig Bee 1.2, AMR ERT SCM tone wake, AMR ERT SCM low power, AMR ERTSCM high power, AMR ERT SCMP, and AMR ERT IDM, Cellnet, KamstrupWireless M-Bus, Sensus FlexNet FSK7, and Neptune R900. Additionalprotocols are contemplated. In an embodiment where the resource monitor200 is embedded within another device (e.g., modem, etc.), Bluetoothand/or WIFI message processing may be shared.

As is noted above with reference to FIG. 1 , the resource monitor 200may initially establish a Bluetooth connection over the Bluetoothwireless link 207 with a client device 102, whereby the client device102 transmits WIFI credentials messages that are received by theBluetooth transceiver 204 and are processed by the communicationsprocessor 203. Data from the messages is provided to the commissioningprocessor 201. In turn, the commissioning processor 201 directs thecommunications processor 203 to establish a WIFI connection over theWIFI link 208, thus commissioning the resource monitor onto a user'sWIFI network.

Once commissioned, the commissioning processor 201 may direct thatmessages be transmitted and received over the WIFI link 208 to establishcommunications with the resource server 130 over the internet cloud 110,and to subsequently provide registration data to register the resourcemonitor 200 with the system 100. Following registration, as will bedescribe in more detail below, the commissioning processor 201 maydirect the meter receiver 206 to scan narrow band channels over theradio link 209 in order to detect meters 107 that are within receptionrange. In one embodiment, the commissioning processor 152 within theresource server 130 may provide instructions to the commissioningprocessor 201 within the resource monitor to expedite discovery of themeters 107. One embodiment contemplates discovery of approximately 10adjacent meters 107. Once the meters are discovered, the commissioningprocessor 201 passes meter IDs, meter reading values, and meterprotocols corresponding to the adjacent meters to the resource server130. The commissioning processor 152 in the server 130 creates recordsin the resource database 151 for the meters 107 and correlates the meterIDs to user registration records. The commission processor 152 maydirect that the resource monitor 200 listen for transmissions to asubset of the discovered meters 107. Once the resource monitor 200 iscommissioned and paired with adjacent meters, the commissioningprocessors 152, 201 turn control over to the meter reading processors153, 202.

The meter reading processor 202 directs the meter receiver 206 toperiodically scan for radio signals over the radio link 209 for meters107 to which the resource monitor 200 is paired. In one embodiment, a30-second period is time shared between reception of meter readings fromthe meters 107 along with additional background signal discovery. Themeter reading processor 202 may then direct the communications processor203 to transmit messages over the WIFI link 208 that provide theacquired meter readings to the meter reading processor 153 within theserver 130. The readings are then recorded in the resource database 151.

The resource monitor 200 according to the present invention may compriseone or more application programs disposed in a non-transitory memorythat are executed by a CPU to perform the operations and functionsdescribed above.

Referring now to FIG. 3 , a block diagram is presented featuring a meterreceiver 300 according to the present invention such as may be employedin the resource monitor 200 of FIG. 2 . The receiver 300 may comprisepower scan logic 304, low power logic 305, high power logic 306, anddeep scan logic 307, all of which are coupled to a state controller 301.The receiver 300 may also comprise a timer 302 that is coupled to thestate controller 301. The state controller 301 is coupled to a narrowband channel selector 303 via a channel select bus CH and a receive busRCV.

In operation, the state controller 301 operates to control channelselection and reception of signals over a radio link 309 by causing thechannel selector 303 to change RF channels according to the meterprotocols described above. Channels are assigned to processing by thescan elements 304-307 according to the type of scan that is required toobtain reading from paired meters 107. The timer 302 is employed toperiodically change state of the receiver 300 to share reception ofsignals between the scan elements 304-307, as will be described in moredetail with reference to FIG. 6 . In one embodiment, the timer 302causes the receiver 300 to change state at least every 30 seconds. Inone embodiment, machine learning algorithms are employed tosimultaneously determine meter transmission behavior and prioritize datastreams so that many meters can be supported, with an optimal data rate,on a single receiver 300.

The meter receiver 300 according to the present invention may compriseone or more application programs disposed in a non-transitory memorythat are executed by a CPU to perform the operations and functionsdescribed above. The CPU and memory may be shared with other elements ofthe resource monitor 200.

Turning now to FIG. 4 , a flow diagram 400 is presented showing a methodaccording to the present invention for commissioning and pairing of aresource monitor to a meter. Flow begins at block 402 where a userclient application 105 executing on a user device 102 requests that auser take and submit a digital image of a meter 107 to be monitored.Flow then proceeds to block 404.

At block 404, the user client 105 causes the image of the meter 107 tobe transmitted to the resource server 140. Flow then proceeds to block406.

At block 406, the commissioning processor 152 determines the meter typeand meter ID of the meter 107 in the manner described above withreference to FIG. 1 . Flow then proceeds to block 408.

At block 408, the resource monitor 103 establishes a Bluetoothconnection with the client device 102. Flow then proceeds to block 410.

At block 410, the client application 105 obtains WIFI networkcredentials from the user and transmits these credentials to theresource monitor 103. Flow then proceeds to block 412.

At block 412, the resource monitor 103 provides these credentials to aWIFI access point over the WIFI network and is thus commissioned ontothe network. Flow then proceeds to block 414.

At block 412, the resource monitor 103 may perform scanning for radiosignals from the meter 107 of block 402 along with adjacent meters 107as directed by the commissioning processor 152. In turn, thecommissioning processor 152 may pair the resource processor 102 to allof the meters 107 or a subset thereof as a function of received signalstrength indications from the resource monitor 103 and adjacent resourcemonitors 103.

Referring to FIG. 5 , a flow diagram 500 is presented illustrating analternative method according to the present invention for commissioningand pairing of a resource monitor to a meter. Flow begins at block 502where a user client application 105 executing on a user device 102requests that a user take and submit a digital image of current utilitybill corresponding to a meter 107 to be monitored. Flow then proceeds toblock 504.

At block 504, the user client 105 causes the image of the currentutility bill to be transmitted to the resource server 140. Flow thenproceeds to block 506.

At block 506, the commissioning processor 152 determines the meter'scurrent and previous readings along with their corresponding dates as isdescribed above with reference to FIG. 1 . Next, the commissioningprocessor 152 generates a current estimated consumption reading for themeter 107 and may direct the resource monitor 103 to search for a meter107 having a current reading that is approximately equal to theestimated consumption reading. Flow then proceeds to block 508.

At block 508, the resource monitor 103 establishes a Bluetoothconnection with the client device 102. Flow then proceeds to block 510.

At block 510, the client application 105 obtains WIFI networkcredentials from the user and transmits these credentials to theresource monitor 103. Flow then proceeds to block 512.

At block 512, the resource monitor 103 provides these credentials to aWIFI access point over the WIFI network and is thus commissioned ontothe network. Flow then proceeds to block 514.

At block 514, the resource monitor 103 may continue scanning for radiosignals from the meter 107 of block 402 along with scanning for radiosignals from adjacent meters 107 as directed by the commissioningprocessor 152. In turn, the commissioning processor 152 may pair theresource processor 102 to all of the meters 107 or a subset thereof as afunction of received signal strength indications from the resourcemonitor 103 and adjacent resource monitors 103.

Turning to FIG. 6 , a diagram 600 is presented detailing states of thestate controller 300 of FIG. 3 . The diagram 600 depicts scan statesassociated with like named scanning elements 304-307 within the meterreceiver 300, which are power scan states, low power type scan states,high power type scan states, and deep scan states. Though the diagram600 depicts scanning of 60 channels, which is consistent with 902-928MHz ISM bands, the present inventors note that channel numbers may beconfigured based upon meter radio types. In the case of a Zigbee radio,there are only 16 channels.

At a summary level, the timer 302 guides the state controller 301between radio discovery and receiving modes. The power scan logic 304handles the initial discovery process when the receiver 300 is first setout to learn a new meter's hopping sequence. The low power logic 305handles receiving data from non-hopping (i.e., fixed frequency)low-power meter types 107. The low power logic 305 also accounts forinterference with other low-power meters 107 in the area by providingfrequency agility through alternate RF channel selections. The highpower logic 305 handles receiving high resolution data from meters 107that frequency hop. The deep scan logic 307 handles all other meters byproviding best effort scanning and listening across all channels. Atstate 601, scanning proceeds to the power scan states 602-607

As detailed in power scan states 602-607, the receiver 300 firstperforms a scan of all available channels in the frequency band. Thisallows it to verify that a meter transmitter is within range and todetermine if the transmitter is of a low power variant or high powervariant. When the receiver 300 is initialized, a Boolean variableHOPPING is set to undefined. The receiver 300 then listens on a firstchannel. If the desired meter ID is heard, then an integer variable HITis incremented. When the timer 302 indicates that a 2-minute timeout hasoccurred, a channel variable CH is incremented and the timer 302 isreset. This state process continues until all 60 channels are scanned.Following this, HIT is evaluated. If HIT is greater than 10, thenHOPPING is set to FALSE (i.e., the meter 107 is of the low power type).If HIT is greater than 0 and less than 10 then HOPPING is set to TRUE(i.e., the meter 107 is of the high power type). If HIT is equal to 0,the searched for meter 107 has not been detected. In one embodiment, anotification is pushed to the client device 102 requesting the user tomove the resource monitor 103 to an outlet that is closer to the meter107.

If the meter 107 is not found to be of a channel hopping type, then thereceiver 300 enters low power states 608-609. An initial channel ischosen from the highest received signal strength indicator (RSSI)measured during the power scan states 602-606. If the receiver 300 doesnot detect transmissions from the desired meter 107 within a 5-minutetimeout, then an alternate channel is chosen. The alternate channel isselected randomly from the set of channels that had previously receivedthe desired meter ID with a strong RSSI observed during the power scanstates 602-606.

If the transmitter is found to be of a channel hopping type, then thereceiver 300 enters a high power mode and begins learning the meter'shopping sequence as depicted by states 610-615. In a typical high powermode, every 30 seconds an N-channel slot register (not shown) with acurrent estimate of channel hopping sequence for the meter is rotated tothe left and the leftmost entry is wrapped back to the rightmost entry.If the current channel is not known, then a channel guess is selectedfrom a candidate channel list. If the meter 107 is heard on a channelcorresponding to the channel guess, then that entry in the slot registeris given a weight. The next time that channel comes around in thesequence and is heard from again, then that weight is incremented.Channels having a weight of 10 are considered as known and are storedwithin the receiver 300 for subsequent reading of the meter 107. If themeter 107 was not heard from on a current channel, then the weight valueis decremented. Channels weight values of zero are considered asaberrations, they are dropped from the listening sequence channel, andare replaced by a new channel guess. Other embodiments contemplate theemployment of 2-, 4-, 7-, 9-, 15-, and 60-second slots.

Advantageously, the weighting according to the present inventionprovides for an indication of confidence with learned sequences givenwell-known variabilities in transmitter clocks, receiver clocks, andtiming jitter.

In the deep scan states 616-618, the receiver 300 listens on all of theavailable channels for a period of 5 minutes each, thus providing atechnique to discover a meter 107 that is neither a low-power meter or ahigh-power meter.

Now referring to FIG. 7 , a block diagram is presented detailing a userclient device 700 according to the present invention, such as the clientdevice 102 of FIG. 1 . The client device 700 may include a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 701 that is coupled to memory 705 having bothtransitory and non-transitory memory components therein. The CPU 701 isalso coupled to a communications circuit 702 that couples the clientdevice 700 to internet cloud 110 via one or more wired and/or wirelesslinks 703. The links 703 may include, but are not limited to, Ethernet,cable, fiber optic, and digital subscriber line (DSL). The client device700 may also comprise a touchscreen 704 that is coupled to the CPU 701.

The memory 705 may include an operating system 1106 such as, but notlimited to, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Unix, Linux, iOS, and Android OS,where the operating system 706 is configured to manage execution by theCPU 701 of program instructions that are components of a user clientapplication program 707. In one embodiment, the user client applicationprogram 707 comprises a server communications code segment SERVER COMM708 and a touchscreen interface code segment TOUCHSCREEN INT 709.

When executing on the client device 700, the user client 707 providesfor display of information provided by the resource server 130 relatedto commissioning of resource monitors 103 and engagement notificationsas described above that enable a user to pair their meter 107 with aresource monitor 103. The SERVER COMM 708 segment may execute to receivethis information and the touchscreen interface segment 709 may executeto transmit this information to the touchscreen 704. Likewise, the userclient 707 provides for input of WIFI credentials and other userregistration information provided by the user via the touchscreen 704for transmission to the resource server 130. The SERVER COMM 708 segmentmay execute to transmit this information and the touchscreen segment 708may execute to receive this information to from the touchscreen.

Now turning to FIG. 8 , a block diagram is presented detailing aresource server 800 according to the present invention, such as theresource server 130 of FIG. 1 . The resource server 800 may include oneor more central processing units (CPU) 801 that are coupled to memory806 having both transitory and non-transitory memory components therein.The CPU(s) 801 are also coupled to a communications circuit 802 thatcouples the resource server 800 to the internet cloud 110 via one ormore wired and/or wireless links 803. The links 1080303 may include, butare not limited to, Ethernet, cable, fiber optic, and digital subscriberline (DSL). As part of the network path to and through the cloud 110,providers of internet connectivity (e.g., ISPs) may employ wirelesstechnologies from point to point as well.

The resource server 800 may also comprise input/output circuits 804 thatinclude, but are not limited to, data entry and display devices (e.g.,keyboards, monitors, touchpads, etc.). The memory 806 may be coupled toa resource database 805 as described above. Though the memory 806 isshown directly coupled to the resource database 805, the presentinventors note that interfaces to this data source may exclusively bethrough the communications circuit 802.

The memory 806 may include an operating system 807 such as, but notlimited to, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Unix, and Linux, where theoperating system 807 is configured to manage execution by the CPU(s) 801of program instructions that are components of one or more applicationprograms. In one embodiment, a single application program comprises aplurality of code segments 808-816 resident in the memory 806 and whichare identified as a configuration code segment CONFIG 808, a clientcommunications code segment CLIENT COMM 809, a presentation processorcode segment PRESENTATION PROC 810, a utility web services code segmentUTILITY WEB SERV 811, a commissioning processor code segmentCOMMISSIONING PROC 812, a meter reading processor code segment METERREADING PROC 813, a disaggregation processor code segment DISAGG PROC814, a outage detection processor code segment OUTAGE DET PROC 815, andan engagement processor code segment ENGAGEMENT PROC 1016.

Operationally, the resource server 800 may execute one or more of thecode segments 808-816 under control of the OS 807 as required to enablethe resource server 800 to perform the commissioning, pairing, meterreading, disaggregation, outage detection, and engagement functions ashave been described above. The COMMS 802 is employed to transmit andreceive messages from commissioned resource monitors 103 and fromutility providers that access services through their respective utilityweb browsers 104, where UTILITY WEB SERV 811 provides for formatting andtransmission of various displays that may be employed and for capture ofengagement messages for users, thresholds for outage detection, demandmanagement information, and the like.

CONFIG 808 may be executed to place the server 800 into an operationalor maintenance mode, where the maintenance mode may be entered to allowfor data from the data sources such as weather history and forecasts,data from utilities that correspond to their deployed resource monitors103, and the like, where the data may be entered via automated or manualmeans. CLIENT COMM 809 may be executed to perfect reliable transfer ofinformation between the resource server 1000 and client applications 195executing on respective client devices 102. PRESENTATION PROC 810 may beexecuted to format and provide notifications to client applications 105executing on respective client devices 102 as is described above.

COMMISSIONING PROC 812 may be executed to perform any of the functionsand operations described above with reference to the commissioningprocessor 152 of FIG. 1 . METER READING PROC 813 may be executed toperform any of the functions and operations described above withreference to the meter reading processor 153 of FIG. 1 . DISAGG PROC 814may be executed to perform any of the functions and operations describedabove with reference to the disaggregation processor 154 of FIG. 1 andwhich will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 9 . OUTAGEDET PROC 815 may be executed to perform any of the functions andoperations described above with reference to the outage detectionprocessor 155 of FIG. 1 and which will be described in more detail belowwith reference to FIGS. 10-11 . And ENGAGEMENT PROC 1016 may be executedto perform any of the functions and operations described above withreference to the engagement processor 156 of FIG. 1 .

Referring now to FIG. 9 , a flow diagram 900 is presented detailing amethod according to the present invention for disaggregation of usagerate spikes and customer engagement, such as may be performed by thedisaggregation processor 154 and engagement processor 156 of FIG. 1 .Flow begins at block 902 where resource monitors 103 that are paired toa meter 107 listen to transmissions from the meter 107 to determinecurrent usage readings. These usage readings from the meter 107 are thentransmitted to the resource server 130 every 30 seconds andcorresponding records within the resource database 151 are updated. Flowthen proceeds to block 904.

At block 904, the disaggregation processor 154 accesses usages readingsalong with corresponding timestamps for a prescribed period of time. Inone embodiment, the prescribed period is one month. Another embodimentcontemplates a period of one year. Using the timestamps, thedisaggregation processor 154 then converts the usage readings to usagerates for specified intervals, where the specified intervals maycomprise 2-minute intervals, 5-minute intervals, or 30-minute intervals.For example, the aggregation processor 154 may convert consumption of 5kWh of electricity over a period of 30 minutes from 14:30 to 15:00 to anaverage power of 10 kW during that 30-minute period. Flow then proceedsto block 906.

At block 906, the disaggregation processor 154 normalizes the usagerates determined in block 904 for weather variances by employinghistorical weather data to remove the effects of weather upon usagerates. Flow then proceeds to block 908.

At block 908, the usage rates generated at block 906 are then normalizedbased upon day of the week by statistically binning daily usage ratesfor like historical days and determining a normalized daily usage ratethat is the expected value plus or minus one standard deviation of allthe usage rates generated at block 906. Flow then proceeds to block 910.

At block 910, the usage rates generated at block 906 are then normalizedbased upon time of day by statistically binning time-of-day usage ratesas is discussed above with reference to FIG. 1 . Flow then proceeds toblock 912.

At block 912, the disaggregation processor 154 analyzes normalized usagerates as is discussed above to identify spikes in usage and furthercorrelates spikes in usage to type of appliance (e.g. oven, washer,compressor, furnace, etc.). Flow then proceeds to block 914.

At block 914, the disaggregation processor 154 filters out normal usagespikes as is discussed above based upon time of day, day of week, anduser usage category. Flow then proceeds to block 916.

At block 916, unusual usage spikes that have not been filtered out atblock 914 are provided to the engagement processor 156, which associatesthese spikes with alerts that are programmed by resource providersthrough their web portal 104. Flow then proceeds to block 918.

At block 918, the engagement processor 156 may cause alerts to betransmitted to corresponding users that include content prescribed bythe resource providers. The alerts may comprise push notifications, SMSmessages, emails, and/or recorded voice messages.

Turning now to FIG. 10 , a flow diagram 1000 is presented illustrating amethod according to the present invention for detection and notificationof resource outages. At a summary level, the outage detection processor155 is configured to detect resource monitors 103 that are offline, thatis, not transmitting meter readings. The physical locations (e.g., GPScoordinates) are retrieved from the resource database 151 and areemployed to define a polygon on a geographic map, where the polygonrepresents a physical boundary to an outage area. Remote monitors 103outside of the polygon are used to sense meters 107 inside the polygonwhose corresponding remote monitors 103 are no longer reporting data.The outage detection processor 155 employs a voting technique to apply aconfidence metric to the online/offline status of non-reporting monitors103. Consider a network 1100 of paired resource monitors and meters 1102as is shown in the diagram of FIG. 11 . Paired monitor/meter A may beredundantly monitored by monitor/meters 1102 in zones 1103 and 1106.Paired monitor/meter C may be redundantly monitored by monitor/meters1102 in zones 1103 and 1104. Paired monitor/meter I may be redundantlymonitored by monitor/meters 1102 in zones 1104 and 1105. Pairedmonitor/meter G may be redundantly monitored by monitor/meters 1102 inzones 1105 and 1106. Paired monitor/meter B may be redundantly monitoredby monitor/meters 1102 in zones 1103, 1104 and 1106. Pairedmonitor/meter F may be redundantly monitored by monitor/meters 1102 inzones 1103, 1104, and 1105. Paired monitor/meter H may be redundantlymonitored by monitor/meters 1102 in zones 1104, 1105, and 1106. Pairedmonitor/meter D may be redundantly monitored by monitor/meters 1102 inzones 1103, 1105, and 1106. And paired monitor/meter E may beredundantly monitored by monitor/meters 1102 in all four zones1103-1106.

When paired monitor/meters A-I go offline, paired monitor/meters 1102 inthe four zones 1103-1106 vote negatively on the health of pairedmonitor/meters A-I, which are in a physical geographic region defined bypolygon 1101, thus indicating a localized resource outage. When a pairedmeter/monitor 1102, A-I goes offline, but adjacent paired meter/monitorsare able to detect transmissions, such would not indicate a resourceoutage, but rather a localized power outage, or a localized outage ofthe internet.

Flow begins at block 1002, where the outage detection processor 155monitors a resource provider's corresponding network of resourcemonitors 103 to determine if they are online or offline. Flow thenproceeds to block 1004.

At block 1004, adjacent resource monitors 103 are employed to detect theabsence of transmissions from meters 107 corresponding to offlineresource monitors 103. Flow then proceeds to block 1006.

At block 1006, the outage detection processor 156 access the resourcedatabase 151 to retrieve the GPS coordinates of each of the offlineresource monitors. Flow then proceeds to block 1008.

At block 1008, the outage detection processor 156 employs the retrievedGPS coordinates to define a geographic polygon indicating a physicalarea of outage. The outage may be due to localized resource outage(e.g., transformer outage, substation outage) or may be due to networkoutage (e.g., Internet). Flow then proceeds to block 1010.

At block 1010, alerts are transmitted through the web portal 104 to theresource provider associated with the offline monitors 103 that indicatethe geographic area of outage and the type of outage. Advantageously,the techniques for outage detection according to the present inventiondo not rely upon self-reporting of AMI meters 103 or backhaul powerbackup. Additional advantages include more timely reporting of outagesover that provided by AMI meters 103 and inclusion of AMR meters 103that better define localized outage areas.

FIG. 12 is a diagram featuring an exemplary usage display 1200 accordingto the present invention such as might be presented by the resourceserver of FIG. 1 to the utility web browser 104. A provider may selectresource type (e.g., grid, solar, gas, water, etc.). The exemplary usagedisplay 1200 shows that the resource provider has selected grid as aresource type. Accordingly, the selected resource type consumption isdisplayed on a map according to application (e.g., demand management,outage management, voltage management) along with real-time consumption.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an exemplary notification display 1300according to the present invention such as might be presented by theresource server of FIG. 1 to the utility web browser 104. In thisexample, the resource provider may prescribe that notifications be sentto users in a geographic area at a certain date and time. In theexemplary display, the notification corresponds to demand reductionduring a peak usage day.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary demand management resultsdisplay 1400 according to the present invention such as might bepresented by the resource server of FIG. 1 to the utility web browser104. In this display 1400, metrics are displayed corresponding to thestart and end of a demand reduction program that was initiated by thenotifications provided with reference to FIG. 13 .

Finally, FIG. 15 is a diagram detailing an exemplary outage detectionalert display 1500 according to the present invention such as might bepresented by the resource server of FIG. 1 to the utility web browser104. The display 1500 shows a geographic area that corresponds to anoutage determined by the outage detection processor 155 described abovewith reference to FIGS. 1 and 10 .

Advantageously, the energy resource monitoring and engagement system 100according to the present invention represents a substantial improvementin this field of art by providing techniques for translatingnear-real-time AMI meter data and AMR meter data into real-time streamsof consumption, where the streams may be employed to generate timelyalerts to both users and resource providers regarding consumption,outages, appliance wear, occupancy, etc. Generation of these real-timestreams do not require a physical connection to a monitored resource(e.g., a current clamp inside a breaker box, a flow meter, etc.), whichis a superior improvement in monitoring over that which has heretoforebeen provided.

Portions of the present invention and corresponding detailed descriptionare presented in terms of software or algorithms, and symbolicrepresentations of operations on data bits within a computer memory.These descriptions and representations are the ones by which those ofordinary skill in the art effectively convey the substance of their workto others of ordinary skill in the art. An algorithm, as the term isused here, and as it is used generally, is conceived to be aself-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The stepsare those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities.Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form ofoptical, electrical, or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It hasproven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, torefer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters,terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise, or as is apparent from the discussion,terms such as “processing” or “computing” or “calculating” or“determining” or “displaying” or the like, refer to the action andprocesses of a computer system, a microprocessor, a central processingunit, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates andtransforms data represented as physical, electronic quantities withinthe computer system's registers and memories into other data similarlyrepresented as physical quantities within the computer system memoriesor registers or other such information storage, transmission or displaydevices.

Note also that the software implemented aspects of the invention aretypically encoded on some form of program storage medium or implementedover some type of transmission medium. The program storage medium may beelectronic (e.g., read only memory, flash read only memory, electricallyprogrammable read only memory), random access memory magnetic (e.g., afloppy disk or a hard drive) or optical (e.g., a compact disk read onlymemory, or “CD ROM”), and may be read only or random access. Similarly,the transmission medium may be metal traces, twisted wire pairs, coaxialcable, optical fiber, or some other suitable transmission medium knownto the art. The invention is not limited by these aspects of any givenimplementation.

The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, andthose skilled in the art will appreciate that they can readily use thedisclosed conception and specific embodiments as a basis for designingor modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of thepresent invention, and that various changes, substitutions andalterations can be made herein without departing from the scope of theinvention as set forth by the appended claims. For example,components/elements of the systems and/or apparatuses may be integratedor separated. In addition, the operation of the systems and apparatusesdisclosed herein may be performed by more, fewer, or other componentsand the methods described may include more, fewer, or other steps.Additionally, unless otherwise specified steps may be performed in anysuitable order.

Although specific advantages have been enumerated above, variousembodiments may include some, none, or all of the enumerated advantages.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for detection and alert of energyresource outages, the system comprising: a resource monitor, disposedwithin radio range of resource meters that each transmit correspondingradio signals indicative of corresponding meter identifiers and currentreadings, configured to: determine whether said corresponding radiosignals are of a fixed frequency transmission protocol or a frequencyhopping transmission protocol by scanning each of a plurality offrequency channels for a time period and counting hits of desired meteridentifiers within said each of said plurality of frequency channels;decode each of said one or more of said corresponding radio signals ofsaid resource meters according to determined fixed frequencytransmission protocol or determined frequency hopping transmissionprotocol to obtain one or more of said corresponding meter identifiersand current readings; and transmit said one or more of saidcorresponding meter identifiers and current readings over an Internet;and a server, coupled to said internet, configured to: receive said oneor more of said corresponding meter identifiers and current readings;employ said corresponding meter identifiers and current readings todetect an outage within a geographic area; and transmit an alert thatcorresponds to said outage.
 2. The system as recited in claim 1, whereinsaid corresponding radio signals transmitted by one of said resourcemeters comprise fixed frequency transmission protocol transmissions fromautomatic meter reading (AMR) meters.
 3. The system as recited in claim1, wherein said corresponding radio signals transmitted by one of saidresource meters comprise frequency hopping transmission protocoltransmissions from advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) meters.
 4. Thesystem as recited in claim 1, wherein said resource monitor comprises atunable narrow band receiver that scans specified narrowband frequencybands to receive said corresponding radio signals.
 5. The system asrecited in claim 1, wherein said resource monitor transmits said one ormore of said corresponding meter identifiers and current readings tosaid server at least every 30 seconds.
 6. The system as recited in claim1, wherein said alert comprises geographic coordinates of a polygon thatdefines said geographic area, and wherein said polygon comprises aboundary of a subset of a plurality resource meters that are deemed tobe offline by a subset of said plurality resource monitors that areonline.
 7. The system as recited in claim 6, wherein said alert furthercomprises a display of said geographic area on an electronic map.
 8. Asystem for detection and alert of energy resource outages, the systemcomprising: a resource monitor, disposed within radio range of resourcemeters that each transmit corresponding radio signals indicative ofcorresponding meter identifiers and current readings, configured to:determine whether said corresponding radio signals are of a fixedfrequency transmission protocol or a frequency hopping transmissionprotocol by scanning each of a plurality of frequency channels for atime period and counting hits of desired meter identifiers within saideach of said plurality of frequency channels; decode each of said one ormore of said corresponding radio signals of said resource metersaccording to determined fixed frequency transmission protocol ordetermined frequency hopping transmission protocol to obtain one or moreof said corresponding meter identifiers and current readings; andtransmit said one or more of said corresponding meter identifiers andcurrent readings over an Internet; a server, coupled to said internet,configured to: receive said one or more of said corresponding meteridentifiers and current readings; employ said corresponding meteridentifiers and current readings to detect an outage within a geographicarea; and transmit an alert that corresponds to said outage; and aprovider client device executing a web browser thereon, that receivesand displays said alert.
 9. The system as recited in claim 8, whereinsaid corresponding radio signals transmitted by one of said resourcemeters comprise fixed frequency transmission protocol transmissions fromautomatic meter reading (AMR) meters.
 10. The system as recited in claim8, wherein said corresponding radio signals transmitted by one of saidresource meters comprise frequency hopping transmission protocoltransmissions from advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) meters. 11.The system as recited in claim 8, wherein said resource monitorcomprises a tunable narrow band receiver that scans specified narrowbandfrequency bands to receive said corresponding radio signals.
 12. Thesystem as recited in claim 8, wherein said resource monitor transmitssaid one or more of said corresponding meter identifiers and currentreadings to said server at least every 30 seconds.
 13. The system asrecited in claim 8, wherein said alert comprises geographic coordinatesof a polygon that defines said geographic area, and wherein said polygoncomprises a boundary of a subset of a plurality resource meters that aredeemed to be offline by a subset of said plurality resource monitorsthat are online.
 14. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein saidalert further comprises a display of said geographic area on anelectronic map.
 15. A method for detection and alert of energy resourceoutages, the method comprising: via a resource monitor, disposed withinradio range of resource meters that each transmit corresponding radiosignals indicative of corresponding meter identifiers and currentreadings: determining whether the corresponding radio signals are of afixed frequency transmission protocol or a frequency hoppingtransmission protocol by scanning each of a plurality of frequencychannels for a time period and counting hits of desired meteridentifiers within the each of the plurality of frequency channels;decoding each of the one or more of the corresponding radio signals ofthe resource meters according to determined fixed frequency transmissionprotocol or determined frequency hopping transmission protocol to obtainone or more of the corresponding meter identifiers and current readings;and transmit the one or more of the corresponding meter identifiers andcurrent readings of the resource meters over an Internet; and via aserver, coupled to the internet: receiving the one or more of thecorresponding meter identifiers and current readings of the resourcemeters from the one or more resource monitors; employing thecorresponding meter identifiers and current readings to detect an outagewithin a geographic area; and transmitting an alert corresponds to theoutage.
 16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the correspondingradio signals transmitted by one of the resource meters comprise fixedfrequency transmission protocol transmissions from automatic meterreading (AMR) meters.
 17. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein thecorresponding radio signals transmitted by one of the resource meterscomprise frequency hopping protocol transmissions from advanced meteringinfrastructure (AMI) meters.
 18. The method as recited in claim 15,wherein the resource monitor comprises a tunable narrow band receiverthat scans specified narrowband frequency bands to receive thecorresponding radio signals.
 19. The method as recited in claim 15,wherein the resource monitor transmits the one or more of thecorresponding meter identifiers and current readings to the server atleast every 30 seconds.
 20. The method as recited in claim 15, whereinthe alert comprises geographic coordinates of a polygon that defines thegeographic area, and wherein the polygon comprises a boundary of asubset a plurality of resource meters that are deemed to be offline by asubset of the plurality of resource monitors that are online.